Chapter 248: FSN: 6
Third POV:
As soon as Shirou reached his home, he saw his father's car outside and realised they must have made it back from the airport.
Entering the house, Shirou headed to the living room, where he heard people talking. As soon as he got there and saw his family, he had to stop and blink as he actually thought he was seeing double.
Shirou knew siblings tended to share a lot of similarities, but saying his aunt looked like a twin of his mother wasn't an exaggeration. The only difference he saw was the clothes and hairstyle.
"Welcome back, Shirou," Kiritsugu greeted his son, making the attention turn to the new arrival. "I'm glad to see you're alright. Did you meet with the Overseer?"
Shirou nodded. "Yeah. He was Sakura's dad, Mr. Xin Qiu. He's the Overseer and helped me with a few things. He also said that me Summoning Saber was actually an act caused by the Holy Grail, and that ot wasn't an accident. He said that the Grail picked me because I was close to a catalyst and compatible with a Servant," he summed up the meeting.
"Ah, that's a relief, I suppose," Irisveil sighed, a hand on her chest.
"Accident?" Irasveil looked in confusion at her sister.
Illya snickered and opened her mouth to say something only for her mother to immediately slap her hand over her daughter's mouth.
"Just a misunderstanding. Don't worry about it," Irisveil stated while her sister blinked in confusion.
"So... you're my aunt?" Shirou decided to immediately change the subject.
Irasveil smiled and nodded. "Yes. This is the first time we met in person, isn't it? I'm Irasveil. You've grown quite much from the pictures that your mother sent me."
"P-Pictures...?" Shirou's concern was obvious in his expression. His mother tended to be a bit much when it came to childhood photos.
"May I see your Servant?" Irasveil requested.
There was a short golden glow and Saber appeared near Shirou. "Greetings. I'm Saber."
"A Saber Servant?" Irasveil placed a hand on her chin and hummed. "Impressive. Sabers are rumoured to be the strongest class amongst Servants."
"While I have no doubt of my own abilities or that I shall bring victory to Shirou in this war," Saber's voice had no arrogance and was simply filled with confidence. "I am unsure of the nature of Sabers being the strongest Class. Zack would know more about these things than I would."
"I believe that's the Overseer?" Irasveil guessed, remembering the question Kiritsugu asked of his son.
Shirou nodded and sat down. "Though, something was weird. He seemed to know Saber."
"He knew Saber's true Name without you or her telling him?" Kiritsugu asked, narrowing his eyes.
Shirou shook his head. "No, as in he personally knew her. From her life."
At that, everyone except Saber looked at Shirou like he grew a second head. "But... that shouldn't be possible," Irisveil shook her head. "Servants can't exist if they died recently. Even the youngest Servant has to be at least a century old."
"Is this true, Saber?" Kiritsugu didn't doubt his son, but he still wanted to confirm what he was just told.
Saber nodded. "Yes. I did in fact know Zack in my life. It was a pleasant surprise to see him as the Overseer."
"Isn't there Mages that are quite old in the Clock Tower?" Illya asked, turning to her parents.
Her father nodded. "Yes, but those are extremely powerful Mages, and one of them is a Magician. Plus, Mage-craft may extend your life for a long, long time, but it doesn't retain your youth. Only really ancient Mage-craft or powerful mystics can do that."
"Saber, what can you tell us about Zack?" Irisveil asked.
She and her husband had met Sakura's father before, obviously, but he never gave tnem the impression of someone connected to the world of Mystics.
"Zack's secrets are his own. Even if I had known something, its not my place to reveal it," Saber's response was swift and firm, leaving no room for argument. "However, if you're wondering if he can be trusted, I can tell you right now Zack is trustworthy."
Kiritsugu's frown deepened. Saber's answer was understandable, but he hated unknown elements, especially if his family was involved in something potentially dangerous.
"He told us no fighting until he has all the Servants confirmed and organised. He said that he wants to make sure there's no casualties in this war," Shirou explained.
"That is admirable, but unlikely to happen," Irasveil stated, shaking her head. "Mages can be cruel and selfish. They'll do anything to get what they want."
"Zack said he already has the approval of Caster and their Master, and his daughter, the Master of Rider, most likely agrees with him," Saber stated firmly. "I doubt Shirou wants to hurt anyone in this Holy Grail War," just to prove her point, she looked at her master and he nodded. "And Illyasveil would become a Master soon, and unless her Servant is too evil to control, I doubt she would also like to hurt someone," she looked at Illyasveil who immediately shook her head, denying her desire to hurt people. "That means Zack already has five four Masters and their Servants agreeing to his terms. That is over half the members."
"Perhabs, but that still leaves three Masters and their Servants," Irasveil countered. "Just one can cause great disaster. We shouldn't let our guard down simply because of numbers."
"So, can I summon my Servant already?" Illyasveil requested, cutting into the discussion.
"Right, that's why I'm here," Irasveil pulled up her briefcase into her lap and opened it. Reaching inside, she pulled out a container with what appeared to be a worn-out piece of cloth in it. "Here, and be careful with it," her gaze turned firm. "The Einzbern family used a lot of resources to get this catalyst. It belongs to one of Humanity's greatest heroes. Even a simple scratch wouldn't be forgiven."
"Yeah, don't worry," Illya took the catalyst and looked smugly at Shirou. "Time for you to see how a real Servant Summoning happens."
Illya headed to the back of the house with her family following behind. Within the shed to make sure the light doesn't reach the neighbours, Illya placed the catalyst in the center of a recently drawn circle.
Raising her hand towards the circle, Illya began chanting."I hereby declare. Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason…Then answer! An oath shall be sworn here! I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell! Yet, though serves with thine eyes clouded in chaos. Thou, bound in the cage of madness. I am he who command these chaos. From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three greet words of power, Come forth from the ring of restraints, Protector of the Holy Balance!"
There was a very powerful flash of light. When it died down, the Servant was standing in the middle of the circle.
"You're huge!" Was the first thing to come out of Illyasveil's mouth as her eyes widened with excitement.
The Servant was large, to the point where they had bend down slightly to avoid smacking the ceiling. Their skin dark, and their hair, wild and long, of an equal shade. His body was made of hard muscles, wearing a battle skirt made from animal skins. In his hand was a large blade resembling a sharpened slap of stone.
The Servant looked down at Illya with red eyes that seemed to glow and let out a small growl. "You're a Berserker, huh?" Illya's question was rhetorical as she stepped forward, completely uncaring of intimidating aura that her Servant had despite the fact it had everyone else tense. "Nice to meet you, Berserker. I'm Illyasveil Einzbern. You can call me Illya."
Berserker stared at Illya for a few seconds before nodding his head, seemingly accepting the greeting.
"Illya, where's your Command Seal?" Irisveil asked, noticing on the back of her daughter's hand.
"Uhhh..." Illya pulled the sleeve of her dress and noticed a red mark on her wrist. "Oh, it's here... and it keeps going..." she commented as she kept pulling on her sleeve and noticed that the mark doesn't stop there.
"Remarkable," Irasveil looked in awe. "Not only did you manage to Summon this great hero, but as a Berserker and with a large Command Seal."
"Does the size of a Command Seal mean something?" Shirou couldn't help but ask.
"I'll explain to you later, sweetie, for now we should check on Illya," Irisveil stated before turning to her daughter and giggling.
Her daughter was now using her Servants outstretched hand as a swing, laughing and talking about how he's not even budging.
Time Skip:
The next day, Shirou was walking towards school with Saber close by in Spirit Form.
Illya did not go to school today. After their mother and aunt checked on her, they found out that her Command Seal goes all the way around her body, which meant it couldn't be covered by her school uniform.
Just as Shirou was passing by the park, he noticed street to be rather empty without even a single sound. Just as Shirou began wondering that, Saber suddenly appeared.
Before he can say anything, Saber jumped in and swung her weapon deflecting something that was heading straight towards them.
That thing was revealed to be a person after it jumped away and landed on his feet.
"Damn. Couldn't pull off a sneak attack. It's the one thing good about my class, too," the attacker said.
Shirou took a step back as Saber stood in front of him, her weapon held high. The man that attacked them was wearing a dark blue kimono. He had long purple hair tied into a ponytail and in his hands he held a katana.
"A Servant," Saber commented, holding her weapon with a firm glare. "And the fact I couldn't feel you until you almost reached Shirou... You're an Assassin?"
Assassin smiled, holding his own weapon. "Yup, and I'd recognise a stance like that anywhere. I may not see your weapon, but I can definitely tell you're holding a sword, so you're a Saber?"
"You will not harm my Master," Saber stated firmly, ignoring the question.
"Shirou!?" The aforementioned young man nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to whoever called him.
"Shinji?" Shirou's confusion was plain as day.
"You're a Master?!" Shinji asked, pointing at his friend.
"Oh, you know this guy, Master?" Assassin asked, looking over Saber and Shirou.
"Yeah, though I definitely can say I didn't expect him to be a Master," Shinji stated, looking at Shirou with suspicion.
"I... didn't exactly plan to become one," Shirou confessed, relaxing slightly.
"I bet your confused about a lot of stuff, huh?" Shinji questioned and Shirou nodded. "Well, I'm sure we'll have a long talk about that, but first... Assassin, take out his Servant."
"W-What?!" Shirou paled. "What are you doing, Shinji?"
"Look, Shirou, don't take this the wrong way," Shinji looked bitterly at his friend. "I'm just trying to win the war. Assassin won't hurt you. I know you're pretty harmless. This isn't personal or anything."
"But the Overseer said no fighting for now!" Shirou cried out.
Shinji's eyes widened. "Wait, you met the Overseer? How? I've been looking for them for days!"
"It's a long story," Shirou sighed.
"What should we do, Master?" Assassin asked, still holding up his katana. "I don't know this guy, so..."
"Shirou couldn't lie to save his life," Shinji commented, and while Shirou felt hurt, he couldn't deny it. "So I say we believe him, for now."
"Thanks," Shirou said as their Servants put their weapons down.
However, both of Saber and Assassin picked up their swords again and turned towards the park, their eyes open wide and looking tense.
"Hoh, and here I was hoping for an amusing show."
Shinji and Shirou turned to look in the same direction as their Servants and saw the one that had spoken.
Softly landing on one of the poles for a light in the park was a young man with blond hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a white shirt and black pants.
Looking down on them, figuratively and literally, the young man smirked. "I suppose participating should prove to be entertaining as well."
Chapter 249: FSN: 7
Third POV:
The newly arrived, golden haired man stared at them as both Saber and Assassin held their weapons high.
Shirou swallowed a nervous lump in his throat and spoke. "Saber, is he-"
"Stay back, Master!" Saber commanded, looking at the man cautiously. "This one is dangerous. He's just leaking power."
Shirou opened his mouth to say something again, but stopped as he saw a flash of golden light. Almost instantly, Saber and Assassin jumped in front of their respective Masters to deflect something that's been shot at them.
"Damn, that was close," Assassin groaned as Shinji stumbled back behind him.
"Who gave you permission to address me, mongrels?" The new arrival, questioned, glaring at them as if they had just committed a crime.
They all fell quiet as each side waited for another to make the first move. Suddenly, running was heard in from the street. Someone appeared from the other side of the park below the pole that the blond was standing on.
"Rin!?" Shirou and Sinji both cried out in surprise.
Their classmate, Rin Tohsaka, a young woman with dark hair tied into pigtails, wearing the uniform of their school looked at them in shock.
"Emiya!? Makiri?! What are you doing here!"
"Getting attacked by YOUR Servant!" Shinji cried out, surprising Shirou that he didn't seem shocked that Rin had a Servant.
"Archer! What are you doing?!" Rin questioned, looking at the now identified Archer.
"Finding myself some entertainment since you failed to provide it," three ripple like portals appeared behind Archer.
"But-"
"Shut up," Archer cut Rin off and sent her a glare that made her go completely quiet.
Weapons shot out of the portals with great speed. Saber and Assassin, like before, used their swords to deflect the weapons away and found themselves immediately blocking a second wave.
"Damn, we're sitting ducks like this," Assassin commented. "These things are fast. Can't move in without our Masters getting hurt."
Saber groaned, knowing that Assassin was right. The projectiles Archer used were fast and powerful, so much that she can either protect herself and her Master, or attempt to attack Archer, but not both.
Before she can come up with a plan, Shirou stepped forward, surprising everyone. "Why are you doing this?!" He asked.
Archer raised an eyebrow and looked at Shirou as if he asked a stupid question. "Why? For entertainment, of course."
"You're attacking us for fun?!" Saber couldn't hold herself from asking her own question.
"Of course!" Archer smiled and spread his arms. "This world, and everything in it, is for me to use as I please. If I want to use you for entertainment, then it obviously is my right to do so."
The man had said that with as much conviction as someone saying that the sky is blue or that the sea is vast. Some of those around looked at him as if he was deranged.
Before he can fire again, a purple object came and crashed into the pole he was standing on, covering the entire area in dust.
Rider burst from the smoke, running at high speed, and began dodging weapons being shot at her. As she was moving between weapons, Rider picked up Rin over her shoulder and jumped away.
Landing near Sakura, who was standing on the edge of the park, Rider put Rin down. "Thank you, Rider. Rin, are you okay?"
"I will be when Archer listens to a freaking word I sa-"
"Move!" Rider cut Rin off as she picked both her and Sakura over her shoulders and immediately jumped away.
The area they were in was destroyed by several golden weapons. The smoke cleared and revealed Archer completely unharmed, standing where the pole he was on a second ago was.
Before he can shoot again at Rider, he moved back to avoid a downward slash from Assassin, and then jumped to avoid Saber cutting him in half.
Rider landed near a few trees to use them to hide and placed Sakura and Rin down. "We need to get you out of here," Rider stated firmly.
"We can't leave Senpai here to fight Archer alone!... And Shinji, too, I guess," Sakura retorted, shaking her head.
"My priority is protecting you," Rider stated, her gaze holding firm as the sound of battle reached them. "I don't want to know what Zack will do if you got hurt."
"Rin, can't you use a Command Seal?" Sakura turned to her sister for help.
"I thought of that, but Archer's level of Mystic is too high and his Independent Action is too strong! I would just waste a Command Seal and piss him off!" Rin replied, looking depressed.
Sakura bit her lips and thought, looking over the trees at the battle as Saber and Assassin were once again pinned with protecting their Masters, she got an idea.
"What if you got Senpai and Shinji out of there? Their Servants can't fight like that," she suggested.
Rider stared at her for a few seconds before she sighed. "Fine, but I'm coming to get you and your sister out of here after I picked them up. Call your father while I get them."
Rider raised her weapons and waved the chains around. The trees and ground began bending and taking shape before forming a steed of stone and wood. Rider's steed jumped into the battlefield as Sakura pulled out her phone.
While Saber and Assassin were protecting their Masters from Archer's attacks, Rider came in behind Shirou and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, throwing him on her steed. Doing the same for Shinji, Rider immediately began heading to where Sakura and Rin were.
Seeing their attempt to flee, Archer shot his weapons at them. The weapons reached their target, creating a small cloud of smoke. When the smoke vanished, only the pieces of the steed were there.
Rider, meanwhile, landed near Sakura and Rin with both boys in her arms. Dropping them on the groan, and making them groan, she turned to Saber and Assassin. "I'll keep them out of danger. You focus on defeating him."
"Fuhaha!" Archer laughed, hearing their discussion. "Amusing. You believe that, if I didn't want those fools dead by now, they wouldn't be corpses. Even if they're beyond my reach, which no such thing exists, do you really believe you can defeat me?"
Saber didn't retort and instead charged for an attack, the ground beneath her exploding from movement. Charging at Archer, she dodged the weapons he shot at her, now that she had nothing to protect behind her, and jumped in the air with her sword raised high.
Saber swung down at Archer, who used his hand to pull out a golden sword from his portals and block Saber's attack himself. The ground beneath them cracked at the sheer force, but Archer showed no sign of discomfort, merely looking curiously at Saber's invisible weapon.
"This sword...," Archer mumbled.
Assassin then appeared behind Archer, swing his sword at Archer's exposed side. It looked like it would land a clean hit... only for a portal to appear from below Archer's arm, pointing down, and another sword stopped the attack.
Two more portals appeared, one in front of Archer pointing at Saber, and another behind Archer pointing at Assassin. Spears shot through the portals, which Saber dodged by bending backwards while Assassin ducked under the strike, both nearly losing their head.
Saber flipped backwards to take her stance again and immediately moved in to attack Archer. Her sword glowed brightly with power as she swung it down, causing a large explosion that had Assassin jumping away to not be caught in.
Archer, unfortunately, was unharmed, and flew out of the smoke into the air, sending dozens of weapons at Saber, who began rapidly swinging her sword to deflect them.
Saber grunted and glared heavily at Archer, who kept smirked down on them again. "Hoh? You might be worth putting in some effort after all. Be honoured. I had believed none to be worthy of it in this era."
"You mean he hasn't been putting in effort before?!" Shinji cried out from the sideline.
As if to prove his point, portals appeared behind Archer. However, it wasn't simply a few like before. This time, enough portals to make the sky look gold appeared, causing everyone to tense greatly.
Weapons appeared from the portal, ready to attack. Archer raised his hand and was about to start shooting weapons, causing everyone to tense.
"Alright, I think you've had enough fun, Gil."
Suddenly, a new voice broke through the field as a new arrival slowly walked into the park.
"Dad!" Sakura cried out.
Zack smiled at Sakura before looking around the destroyed park and sighing in annoyance. "Gonna need to fix this."
"This is interesting!" Archer yelled, looking at Zack. However, the look on his face was distant, as if he was looking at something in Zack's direction, but very far away. "I see you got yourself quite the intriguing puppet, Tree."
"Several millennia and you still call me that," Zack sighed, shaking his head.
While everyone was looking between the two in confusion -though Saber and Assassin didn't drop their guard since Archer's portals were still present-, Sakura groaned. "Not another one."
"So, Gil, how about you put away your treasury and we go to my house to sit down, talk, and catch up?" Zack suggested.
"And why should I humour your request, Tree?" Archer questioned, tilting his head.
"I got wine," Zack offered.
While everyone seemed caught off guard by his offer, Archer simply raised an eyebrow. "What kind?"
"The kind they don't make in the age of humans. It's stolen from Gods, too," Zack added.
"You hide drinking wine at home?" Sakura, despite the situation, sent a disappointed glare at her father.
Zack shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I keep it for guests. I don't drink that stuff."
Meanwhile, Archer was humming in thought. After a few moments, the portals behind him vanished. "Very well," slowly, Archer landed on the ground and placed his hands in his pockets. "However, should the drink not live up to my standards, I will be very displeased."
"Gil, I can count the amount of times something lived up to your standards with my hands and still have fingers to spare."
"Ha! That simply shows how everyone else's standards are so low compared to me!"
Chapter 250: FSN: 8
"Hmm, not bad, Tree," Gilgamesh commented, swirling the wine in his glass.
"Glad you like it. Nice clothes, by the way. Good to see you're opening yourself to modern fashion," I said, motioning to Gilgamesh's leather jacket and black jeans.
"One of the few things this modern world has not failed to gain my attention with is their fashion," Gilgamesh said, sipping his wine.
We were in the café. The kids and their Servants were standing in the background, watching this happen with confused faces, except for Sakura who went behind the counter to prepare refreshments.
The wine Gilgamesh was enjoying is from Scathach. She's the one who stole it from the gods during one of her feuds with them. I may have... borrowed it without asking.
And, I also may have left a note saying it was Cu Chullain.
Obviously, she won't fall for it. She's the one who taught me how to write in my puppet body. She'll recognise the handwriting instantly. Luckily for me, she's locked up in the Land of Shadows.
"Rin, can you help Sakura prepare snacks and drinks, Emiya's family is coming to confirm Berserker's Summoning," I told the still shocked student.
"Huh? Oh, uh, okay," Rin hesitantly nodded before heading behind the counter to help her sister, all while keeping an eye on Gilgamesh.
"Zack," Artoria finally spoke, her body tense since they got here. "You... know this person?"
"Oh, yeah, Gilgamesh and I go way back," I answered.
Rin sputtered from behind the counter. "D-Don't just reveal my Servant's True Name!"
I raised an eyebrow at her before turning to Gilgamesh. "Hey, Gil, do you care?"
"Does it look I care to you, Tree?" Gilgamesh, as expected, sounded almost insulted.
I did a 'see?' motion at Gilgamesh while looking at Rin, who just groaned and went back to helping Sakura, looking close to giving up on life.
"Why don't you join us?" I offered to the other Servants since the kids weren't of drinking age.
"I don't really like drinking," Medusa replied and shrugged her shoulders.
Well, that fits. Drinking has always been her sisters' thing.
"I'm more of a Sake man, myself," Assassin declined with a shrug.
Artoria, on the other hand, stepped forward and took a seat. She reached for a wine glass with one hand, but I can tell she was still holding Excalibur in the other.
Taking a sip of wine, her eyes widened. "This is good!"
"Well, it has to be, less Gil destroys my cafe," I stated and Gil didn't even pretend to not agree with the look on his face.
A tray was almost slammed on the table. "I'm still mad you've been hiding drinking wine, dad," Sakura grumbled, placing her hands on her waist and looking disappointed.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Hey, like I said, I don't drink this stuff. I only keep it for guests."
"I can vouch for that. I've never seen Zack drink any alcohol before," Artoria backed me up.
"He didn't even drink or eat when we knew each other," Medusa added.
"Hmph, seems you still lack taste in the finer things in life, Tree," Gilgamesh added.
Sakura stared at me for a few more moments before sighing in defeat. "Fine, I believe you," she then went back to the counter with her sister.
"Well, with that out of the way," I turned back to Gilgamesh and Artoria. "Wanna play Uno until Emiya's family shows up?"
Third POV:
Rin truly didn't know how to react to what was going on. Things were happening too fast in her life for the past few days.
First, a Holy Grail began. She managed to Summon a Servant, and an incredibly powerful one at that, only for them to be a slave driver that had her running around left and right for his entertainment, and, in the end, was still unsatisfied.
Then, her Servant went rogue and attempted to attack some of her classmates, some of which were Masters themselves. She didn't even know Shirou had any connection to the world of Mystics, let alone have a Servant.
And then, Sakura had her own Servant who saved her from her rogue Servant before Sakura's father came in and talked to her rogue Servant into calming down.
The final nail in the coffin is hearing how Sakura's father apparently knew her Servant from their life, which made no sense because Rin knew who her Servant is -so did everyone now, she guessed-, and are now playing Uno of all things as they waited for Emiya's family.
Rin fully believed that the only reason she hasn't had a mental breakdown yet is because she's too busy actually processing what's happening.
As the game was going, the Emiya family's care stopped in front of the café. Kiritsugu, Irisveil, and Illya all stepped out of the vehicle and came in to the cafe.
Just as anyone would expect, they were confused by what's happening. "Are you playing Uno?"
"I am WINNING Uno," Gilgamesh gloated, holding only one last card in his hand.
"He is surprisingly good at this," Saber confessed, holding more than few cards in her hand.
"Well, I sadly have to quit to tend to my guests. Guess you win this one, Gil," Zack said, placing his cards down and standing up.
"Ha! Running away from defeat, Tree? How unlike you," Gilgamesh gloated again, making Zack roll his eyes.
"I have not lost yet, and I will not surrender," Saber, despite the clear disadvantage, didn't seem to consider quitting.
"Admirable, if foolish," Gil grinned at her.
Zack turned from them to face the Emiya family. "It's good to see you again, Kiritsugu, Irisveil. You, too, Illya, how have you been?"
"We've been well, thank you, Zack," Irisveil nodded back at the greeting with a smile while her husband kept his neutral frown.
"I guess you're the master of Berserker?" Zack rhetorically asked, looking at Illya.
"Yup!" Illyasveil replied with a nod before looking over her shoulder. "Berserker! You can come out now!"
The Servant appeared in a flash of gold and everyone but Zack and Gilgamesh nearly jumped at the size of the man. "Huh, so it's this guy, huh?" Zack turned to look at Sakura. "See? I didn't know this guy when he was alive. I just knew of him like Caster."
Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head, finishing up the refreshments and taking them out. "Food is ready," picking up a tray as her sister picked another, they took them out from behind the counter and placed them two different tables.
"Please make yourselves at home," Zack said to the Emiya family before turning to the other Masters and Servants. "You guys, too. You've just been standing there for a while."
"Because we have no idea what's going on!" Shinji finally cried out what was going on through the minds of most people in the café.
"I'll explain anything you want to know while you set and eat. There's no reason to shout in my cafe," Zack deadpanned at Shinji.
It didn't take long for them to join a few tables to sit around with, though Gilgamesh had his own table with his own food and drinks, and Berserker chose to sit on the floor because he was too big for the chairs.
"First things first," Kiritsugu was the first to speak after they sat down. "Who are you?"
Zack raised an amused eyebrow. "I mean, I already introduced myself to you before and said I'm the Overseer so..."
"You know what I meant," Kiritsugu groaned, while his wife gave him a disappointed look.
Zack, however, just smiled. "Kiritsugu, I know you are looking out for your family. I'd be disappointed if you didn't. But, I assure you, I told you no lies when we first met. My name is Zack. I just own a café and am trying to give my daughter a good life. Does my past really matter when I have the present to worry about?"
Kiritsugu stared at Zack for a few seconds before sighing. "No, I suppose not," he knew that he himself was in a similar situation. "But how come you're daughter is one of the Masters if you want her safe?"
"Are you worried I'm plotting to get the Grail myself? Well, I can assure you I have no interest in the Holy Grail," Zack guessed, shrugging his shoulders and crossing his arms. "I got Sakura to be a Master so I can have someone I know for a fact I can trust amongst the Masters and avoid having any Rogue Servants. Rider's wish for the Grail was something I had access to without the Grail, so I gave it to her. She doesn't need or want the Grail anymore. As for Sakura herself..." He trailed off and turned to his daughter to speak for herself.
"You always taught me that stuff like that is more trouble than it's worth, dad. I know the Grail isn't just sunshine and rainbows where you immediately get what you want," Sakura replied with a shake of her head before putting a hand on her chin. "Then again... I guess endless plushies and sweets aren't too bad..."
Zack snorted. "Sweetie, you said that out loud."
Sakura froze and realised most eyes were on her. Her face turned red as she began frantically waving her hands. "I didn't mean-! I wasn't gonna-! I was just-! It wasn't-!" She gave up on trying to come up with an excuse and simply covered her face with her hands while groaning.
Rin reached over and began rubbing her sister's back in support.
"As for whether or not you need proof on me not wanting the Grail, just ask Rider, Saber, and Gilgamesh. They've known me for a long time," Zack went back to the discussion.
"I can vouch that Zack isn't the kind of person to seek the Grail," Rider said. "In fact, if he had someone he can trust with it, he would have probably gave them the Grail and made them the Overseer while he went back to travelling the world."
"That indeed sounds like something Zack would do," Saber added her own opinion.
"It does sound like your trail of thoughts, Tree," Gilgamesh added, taking a sip of wine.
"Yup, that's dad alright," Sakura added.
"Ouch, I mean, you're not wrong, but still," Zack groaned, crossing his arms.
"I have a question!" Illya suddenly raised her hand, turning the attention to herself. "What's this I hear about Sabers being the strongest! Just look at Berserker!" Illya motioned to her Servant. "He's obviously the strongest!"
"Oh, that," Zack uncrossed his arms and placed them on the table. "The matter of fact is, a blank Servant Saint Graph is actually equally strong in any Class. The reason for the rumours of Sabers being the strongest is that most of that Class is made up of people with strong legends. But, in the end, it depends on the Servant and which Class is best for them to be Summoned in. Berserker and Gil here are actually an exception to that. They're strong regardless of which Class they're Summoned in because of how powerful they were in life."
"Well, I have a question," Shinji spoke up. "How do we decide who gets the Grail now?"
"Went right to the big question, huh?" Zack smirked. "Basically, we do it tournament style. Since there's six Servants that want the Grail now, we have three matches. Lancer's Master is arriving in a couple of days. That should give me enough time to prepare an arena or something, so we can start then. The fights will be decided by random chance."
Hope blossomed in Rin's chest. Even with her Servant being mostly docile during this meeting, she had been worried it would not end with her getting a shot at the Holy Grail.
"And why should I take part in your little game, Tree?" Gilgamesh suddenly asked.
... For several days now, Rin had to put up with her Servant practically treating her like a slave, running around like moron to do his errands in the hopes he would agree to help her with the Holy Grail War. She even got hopeful when Sakura's father seemingly can talk sense into him.
And now, after all that, he saw no reason to help.
Something inside Rin just snapped.
"Oh, would you agree to something already!" Rin jumped off her chair and smacked her hands on the table. "You're the King of Heroes! You have a chance to show off your position and establish your superiority to other Heroic Spirits! And all you can say is 'why should I?'?! What kind of King just let's a chance to show his greatness pass by! Have you no pride in your position?!"
It wasn't until she was finished yelling that Rin actually realised what she had been doing. Everyone else, bar Gilgamesh and Zack, were looking at her as if she had just hung herself.
Gilgamesh himself was staring at her with narrowed eyes and a deep frown. Not a glare, but a look of judgement for someone that truly overstepped their boundaries.
"(Well, that's it, I'm gonna die,)" Rin thought, hanging her head. "(At least I can say I went out telling off the King of Heroes.)".
"... Heh... hehe... FuhaHAHAHA!" Gilgamesh broke the silence by throwing his head back in loud laughter.
Everyone looked at him as he laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair. Zack had simply kept staring at Gil with a knowing smile.
"So you do have backbone after all!" Gilgamesh said after getting his laughter under control. "Here I thought you were just another spineless fool that believed licking my feet hard enough will earn you my favor! Very well. For the amusement you have provided, I shall humour your request and offer my time. However, it will be for ONE fight only!"
Rin truly didn't know what to do beyond slowly sit back down.
"Well, there you gave it," Zack clapped his hands. "Gil is going first. As for the Servant fighting him, that'll be decided after I prepare a place for the fight to take place."
"Then what?" Shirou asked, looking concerned. "With six fighters, there's gonna be an uneven number for the next round."
Zack simply waved his hand. "We'll worry about that when we get to it.
Chapter 251: FSN: 9
The next day, which was thankfully the weekend for the kids, I got up early to make breakfast for Sakura before going to build the little Arena.
"Good morning, sweetie," I said to Sakura as she came into the kitchen wearing her bunny printed pijamas.
"Mornin'..." She yawned as she sat down in the dining table.
A cute habit Sakura had is that she tended to be lazy during weekend mornings.
"I'll be working the whole day on the battlefield to make sure it's good enough. You can't be too cautious with Servants, especially with Gil being one of them," I said placing her breakfast in front of her. "So, the café will be closed for the day. I'll leave a sign that says we're redoing our menu or something."
"Alright," Sakura nodded, eating her breakfast.
"Want to keep me company while I work, Medusa?" I asked, knowing she's always close by to Sakura.
Medusa appeared, dropping her Spirit form and opened her mouth to say something-
"Actually! I was hoping Rider would join me today!" Sakura suddenly cut in, the previous drowsiness gone.
Both me and Medusa stared at her in confusion for a few seconds. "I... Wasn't aware you needed me for something," Medusa stated.
"W-Well... Rin was feeling down yesterday so, since we have the day off and you didn't prepare the arena yet, I offered to take her out to make her feel better, and for Rider to join us to pay her back for all her help!" Sakura declared, joining her hands innocently.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. You do deserve a break Medusa," I agreed with her.
"I-I'm not exactly the 'going out to have fun' type," Medusa awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.
"Come on! We'll just go out for a few shops! We can even get you some clothes so you don't have to stay in Spirit form the whole day!" Sakura insisted.
"You should just agree before she uses a Command Seal for it," I added, knowing my daughter can be rather hard headed.
Medusa just stared at us for a few seconds before sighing in defeat and nodding in agreement. "Great!" Sakura got off her chair. "I'll go get dressed and call Rin to tell her, maybe call Illya, too!"
I blinked as Sakura went for the stairs. "Wait, didn't you say you already planned to go out with Rin?"
Sakura froze in the middle of the stairs and raised a finger. "I-I mean I'll call Rin where to meet up and that I'll be bringing Rider, of course!"
With that, Sakura ran up the stairs to her room while me and Medusa looked at where she disappeared, feeling confused.
"I can't understand teenagers. I guess I'm officially old," I joked.
Third POV:
Sakura hoped her attempt to keep her father from Rider wasn't too obvious. Finishing the call to her sister for the date that didn't exist until now, she went to her closet and started getting dressed.
She had nothing against Rider. In fact, Sakura believed she seemed like a good person. But, that didn't change one single fact.
Sakura knew almost nothing about Rider.
The only things she knew was that her name was True Name was Medusa, and that she knew her father when she was alive.
Her father had taught her that history books tend to be off in details, so she didn't exactly trust what she had known about the 'Mythical Medusa'.
Realising that she already left their house, Sakura can feel her Servant around as she went to the meeting spot while her mind went back to the subject of her father and Rider. Sakura wasn't blind. There was something there, and she can see it wasn't just 'being friendly'.
As far as Sakura knew, her father had never showed interest in the opposite sex. Or the same sex, for that matter, she didn't judge. She had even started thinking her father was asexual, or simply not interested in romance of any kind.
Sakura didn't mind that. She still had her birth mother, who checked up on her as much as Rin did. Even more so when she was in town.
However, if Sakura was going to see her father with someone, she had at least hoped to know who they were. Not for them to literally appear in a flash of light and suddenly be this close to him.
Granted, they had apparently known each other for years, but still...
That was why Sakura wanted to finally get to know Rider.
Waiting at the spot, Sakura began speaking. "So... how long have you known dad?"
"Er... Quite a long time during my life. I've known him since my youth," Rider was understandably taken back by the question, but answered nonetheless.
"Have you ever been with someone else?" Sakura asked.
"My sisters were there," Rider replied.
"Ah... Alright," Sakura almost pointed out that she was asking about being with someone romantically, but realised that would have made things too obvious. "What did you do together?"
"We would usually figure out what to do each day. Zack sometimes would tell me stories about the world," Rider replied.
Sakura chuckled. "Yeah, dad really loves to tell you how big the world is."
"Sakura! I'm here!" Rin came in wearing her usual red sweater and black skirt.
"Oh! There you are!" Sakura waved at her sister before looking around. "Do you have Archer with you?"
"You're kidding, right?" Rin's face immediately soured. "He won't even let me decided on when breakfast will be. You really think I can make him go shopping with me?"
"Well, we're here to make you feel better, so let's go," before Rin can question her sister, Sakura took her hand and walked out. Heading into a collection of stores, Sakura went to the largest one. "So, dad gave me my allowance and salary, I'd like to buy some stuff for Rider, and we can vet something to help you feel better!"
"You really shouldn't do that," Rider whispered as they walked through the store. "I'll return to the Throne of Heroes after the Holy Grail War. You should focus on getting yourself something."
"Nope, not happening," Sakura immediately held her hands in an 'X' motion. "We need to get you something. At the very least, a new pair of clothes!"
"You should just accept, Sakura doesn't back down on giving presents," Rin mumbled. "I guess I could spoil myself and buy some jewellery, after everything that happened yesterday."
"Sakura? Rin?" Both suddenly turned at being called and saw Illya and Irisveil walk towards them.
"Oh, hey! You two shopping, too?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, we even brought Saber," Illya whispered the last part, motioning to the air besides her, implying Saber was there in Spirit Form.
"Oh, let's go together! I was getting some new stuff for Rider," Sakura saw it as an opportunity. From what she knew, Saber knew her father before.
She didn't see the same connection between her father with Saber as he did with Rider, but it didn't hurt to check.
"That's a good idea!" Irisveil clapped her hands together. "Let's get going, then!"
The group of four, plus Rider and Saber in Spirit Forms, went to walk through the rows of clothes. Carefully rumming through the clothes, they tried to find something suitable for the Servants. After picking up a collection of clothes, they went to the changing rooms and made sure no one was around before throwing thei clothes in the empty stalls.
"Alright, you two, go get changed," Sakura said.
They heard a sigh, though they couldn't tell who it was from. A few seconds later, they heard clothes being moved inside the stalls.
Soon enough, the doors were opened. Rider was wearing a simple white sundress while Saber was wearing a skirt and blue shirt. Both looking uncomfortable, with Rider looking awkward while Saber was trying to pull down her skirt to make it cover more.
"H-How am I supposed to move in this?" Saber asked, her cheeks pink.
"You just move without jumping or raising your legs high," Rin replied with a deadpan look, remembering Saber's way of fighting Archer.
Illya then noticed something behind Saber's attempt to cover with her skirt. "Are you... wearing granny bloomers?"
"I didn't find anything to change into for underwear," Saber replied. "I just found a few triangles of cloth."
"... That IS your underwear," Illya deadpanned at her.
"... What?" Saber's cheeks turned from pink to red. "You... You can't be serious!?"
"Okay, you're definitely gonna need help," Illya pushed Saber back into the changing room and closed the door.
Meanwhile, Rider was taking a spin in her dress. "I don't think this is... for me."
"But you look great in it," Sakura stated.
"I agree, you look really lovely," Irisveil added her own review. "With how great you look, there's no way you won't be turning heads," she teased, motioning to how the dress greatly highlighted Rider's figure.
While Sakura's eyebrow twitched, Rider seemed to consider accepting the dress. "Actually, now that I think about it," Sakura began pushing Rider back into the changing room. "I don't think it's really 'you', too. You should try something else."
The entire thing took a bit over an hour. When they were finished, Saber was wearing a long blue skirt with black leggings and a white, longs sleeved shirt, while Rider was wearing plain jeans and a black sweater. They left the shop after paying for the clothes and sat down in the food court.
"So, how have you two been?" Irisveil asked the two sisters. "We didn't get a chance to catch up the other day."
"Pretty well, and you?" Sakura asked politely.
"Not bad," Illya replied before giggling. "Seeing Saber's face when I showed her lingerie definitely made my day."
"That was not clothes!" Saber rejected, her cheeks bright red. "That-That was nothing more than a few strings tangled together! How is it supposed to cover anything!?"
Illya merely laughed more at Saber's reaction. Sakura saw her chance to go back to her original goal of this trip.
"By the way, Rider was telling me about my dad when they knew each other," Sakura stated, turning to said Servant. "Why don't we continue."
"Er, is this really something worth discussing with company?" Rider looked uncomfortable with the attention rather than the topic itself.
"I'd actually like to know, too," Rin added, surprising her sister. "That guy doesn't share anything about his past. Any info would honestly be useful," she revealed her reason to be information gathering.
"Well... Saber knew him, too," Rider immediately attempted to divert attention to the other Servant.
"While Zack is a friend, I have to say that most of what I know of him is on a professional level," Saber confessed with a shrug. "We met while he was doing a job and stayed because of the job. When his work was done, he only visited occasionally to check on us," she summarised while withholding information that would reveal her True Name.
Seeing the eyes of the others turn back to her, Rider sighed. "Alright, what do you want to know?"
"You said you knew dad before he looked like he does right now, right? Did he really look that different? You didn't even recognise him when you first saw each other," Sakura asked and pointed out.
"Wait, you've seen how Zack really looks like?" Saber seemed shocked. "He told me he couldn't afford to take his true form."
"Hmm... Something must have happened to make him say that," Rider mumbled. "As for your question, Sakura, the only thing he has in common with his current appearance is that they both walk on two legs. He looked very different than humans beyond the general appearance of walking on two and having hands. As for why Zack stopped using his real body, I wouldn't know. But, it might be related to the age of gods ending. I personally never saw something wrong with his appearance, but Zack always said it was unsettling for humans."
"So, you think he doesn't show how he really looks because the age of humans isn't used to creatures like him?" Illya deducted, tilting her head. Rider just shrugged her shoulders, showing that this was just her guess.
"Okay, time for the juicy bits!" Irisveil leaned forward, clapping her hands together. "How close are you two?" She sounded like a young girl ready to gossip with her friends.
"Zack... is really important to me," Rider's lips formed to a smile. "He brought many new things to my life. Honestly, I should be angry that he made my life seem so dull before his appearance. He even went as far to make me and my sisters a house and pool."
"Ohhh, did you bathe together?" Illya asked teasingly.
"Zack didn't need to bathe but he was always there when we did," Rider's answer was blunt.
So blunt it took them a few seconds to register it. "Huh?" Sakura asked, her voice getting shaky. "W-What do you mean he was there?"
"Uhm... He was always keeping us company when we bathed. What more is there to explain," Rider stated.
"B-But you weren't like, n-naked or anything, right?!" Sakura asked in clear panic.
"Of course we were. Why would we bathe with our clothes on?" Rider's response was, again, incredibly blunt.
They all fell into silence with their cheeks red, except for Rider. "Uh, Sakura," Illya spoke up. "You don't... do that yourself with your dad, do you?"
"O-Of course not! I've been bathing on my own for years!" Sakura immediately shook her head.
"Yeah, I'm still gonna have a long talk with your dad after this," Rin stated, her face, despite her blush, held a suspicious glare.
"You and me both," Sakura mumbled.
Today did not go as planned, and it had been more tiring than she expected.
Third POV:
The next day, Sakura found herself waiting for the other Masters with her father at the café. Every now and then she would send him a suspicious glare, but didn't have the courage to bring up the topic from yesterday.
The first ones to arrive were Rin and Archer. The second ones were the Emiya family. Shinji and Assassin arrived third, and the next to arrive was a car that they found familiar.
"Souichiro Sensei!?" Rin cried out at seeing her homeroom teacher.
"Tohsaka?" The teacher was equally surprised. More so when he recognised the other occupants. "Emiya, Xin Qiu, and Makiri are here as well... Are you Masters?"
"U-Uh, yeah. Wait, how come you're a Master?" Rin didn't know of anything that connected her teacher to the world of Mystics.
"He found a rogue Servant," the one to answer that question was Zack. "Caster was originally a rogue Servant that asked Souichirou for help. He agreed and became their master. He was pretty reasonable, so I still decided to consider him a genuine one."
"Oh, so your the Master of Caster, Souichirou Sensei," Emiya commented. "I guess that makes us in the same boat, I didn't exactly plan on being one either."
"I guess this is why you called in sick for the past few days," Souichirou's question was rhetorical and needed no answer. "I suppose that is understandable. However, I hope you do not let this incident hindrance your progress with your studies."
"Quite the strict teacher, aren't you?" A figure suddenly appeared besides Souichirou.
It was a woman wearing a dark blue dress and a dark violet hooded cape that hid most of her featers. The only thing visible through the hood was the lower side of her face, showing her lips that had blue lipstick.
"I'm just making sure my students follow up on their studies, Caster," Souichirou defended, causing Caster to chuckle.
"So, you are Caster?" Saber appeared besides Shirou, which prompted the other Servant to appear as well.
Caster froze at the sight of Berserker. "Oh... You're here?" Her question was met with a soft growl from Berserker, who's features softened. "Well, I certainly know who I'm avoiding now," turning her head to look at the other Servants, Caster's eyes stopped on Saber.
Saber couldn't see Caster's eyes, but she couldn't help but feel like she was being undressed, and then re-dressed in different clothes. She was used to having her strength gauged, but this was entirely foreign to her.
"I tire of waiting, Tree. Give me something to state my boredom, lest you want me to reduce this place to rubble," Gilgamesh stated, glaring at Zack.
Zack sighed. "Fine, fine. Let me get you some wine. The final Master should be here soon."
As soon as Zack went through the door to the back, a motorcycle engine was heard. A black bike came in and stopped in front of the café. The person on the bike was a was wearing a pitch black suit with a nearly as black undershirt and tie. On their back was a case meant for a long object like a sword or bat.
Getting off the bike, the driver took off their helmet and revealed a young woman with short, neon red hair and matching eyes. The woman strapped her helmet to the bike and walked into the café.
Seeing the obvious Servants around, the woman called out. "I'm the Master of Lancer, here to meet with the Overseer."
"He's in the back. He should be back in a moment," Sakura replied.
Lancer's Master looked around again before her eyes landed on Kiritsugu and they narrowed to a glare. Kiritsugu returned with his own glare.
"Mage Killer," The woman said, almost like she was greeting him with a completely flat tone.
"Enforcer," Kiritsugu returned the greeting, his tone equally flat.
"Are we going to have any problems?" The woman raised her hand and threateningly adjusted her gloves.
"None that I started, but I guarantee you that if there is any, I'll be the one to end them," Kiritsugu returned with his own threat, his shoulders tensing.
"Oh, hush," Irisveil weakly slapped her husband's shoulder. "None of that now. You left those days behind. Don't go back to them," Kiritsugu sighed in defeat at his wife's tone and his shoulders sagged. "Let's start over," Irisveil stepped forward to the woman. "I'm Irisveil Von Einzbern. Nice to meet you."
The woman blinked, clearly taken back, but still nodded before answering. "I'm Bazett Fraga McRemitz, here as Lancer's Master. I was told this Holy Grail War will follow a specific method."
"Yes, it'll be tournament styled to avoid collateral destruction and casualties in an arena made by the Overseer," Sakura explained.
"Works for me!" A man suddenly appeared besides Bazett.
He was a tall man with long blue hair tied into a low ponytail. For clothes, he was wearing a blue bodysuit, the same shade as his hair, and hard to miss silver earrings. He had a crimson spear with vein-like patterns running through it.
"Don't get me wrong, an all out brawl sounds good, too, but this definitely works, too," the man, who everyone guessed is Lancer, sat down on one of the chairs and placed his legs on the table.
"Don't put your feet up in my café," Zack said, walking back in.
Lancer took one look at Zack and immediately jumped off his seat in panic. "HOLY-!?" Lancer took a step back before looking closer at Zack. "Damn, for a second, I thought the old hag showed up... Do you have any idea who you look like, buddy?"
Zack handed Gilgamesh his wine and turned a deadpan look at Lancer. "I do, and if you don't want me to send you straight to her, you'll just roll with it and not ask questions."
"Tch... fine," Lancer calmly sat back down. "Don't want to get dragged into a mess related to that hag anyway."
"Alright, then!" Zack loudly clapped his hands together. "Everyone is here and the field is ready! So... let's get fighting!"
Chapter 252: FSN: 10
I took everyone to the back of the café where there was a pair of gates that revealed a long flight of stairs. As we went down, there was nothing but blackness around, but it wasn't dark by any means.
After walking the stairs for a while, we came into another pair of gates that opened up. When they were opened, the area of battle was revealed.
"What the Heck!?" Shirou, Rin, and Shinji cried out.
The entire field looked an arena made of cubic stone with six pillars going around it in a circle. That alone wouldn't have been surprising if not for the fact the arena was surrounded by mountains covered in empty houses that half were Mesopotomian and Greek.
"This is where the Servants are gonna fight?!" Shirou asked, looking shocked.
"Well, the first fight at least. The other ones have different areas. Sorry if its not much. I only had yesterday to work with and I felt lazy," I stated, some smugness slipping into my voice.
"This is you being lazy?!" Shinji cried out.
"We must have passed at least a dozen barriers on the way here, and each one of them is a high grade Bounded Field," Caster commented, looking around.
"Hmm, not bad, Tree. I remember you had trouble creating a simple house," Gilgamesh commented, looking pleased. Probably because I made the place resemble Uruk a bit.
"Why did you say that each fight will have it's own area?" Artoria asked, noticing that bit from what I said.
"Two reasons," I raised a couple of fingers. "One, because the first fight was decided, and frankly, I don't believe this place will survive that fight, so I made the other places in reserve. The other reason is fairness. Not all of you are meant for a head on fight, as such each area is made to give an equally fair chance to both sides."
I can see Assassin sighing in relief and some tension leaving Caster's shoulders as I said the second reason.
"Okay, so who's fighting first?" Asked Rin.
"Gilgamesh and Berserker," I stated, causing the mentioned two to look at each other. "Frankley, Berserker is the only here who can give Gil a genuine good fight. They're both great heroes with both reputation and personal prowess to back them up. However, I will state something important, so listen carefully," everyone turned to me as I gave them a firm stare. "I want you all to know that the fight we're about to see is by no means the standards or average for Servants. Gilgamesh and Berserker are especially strong even amongst the countless names in the Throne of Heroes. So, don't think they speak for Servants in general. That would be like comparing an nuclear bomb to a hand gun and saying they're the same because they're both weapons. That's exactly why I made it so this place is expandable. I have, without exaggeration, no faith whatsoever that there's gonna be much of this place left."
I saw many of the kids gulp or go pale, while the adults began looking nervous. Illya, however, looked rather proud of herself as she pat Berserker's arm.
"Alright, let's back off and beginning this mess."
Third POV:
Zack guided the other observers away and created a Rune barrier in front of them while the two contestants stood in the middle of the arena. Both Berserker and Gilgamesh stared at each other, completely unmoving.
"So, the Tree believes you can offer a good fight," Gilgamesh smirked, crossing his arms. "How amusing. Let's see if his belief has any merit to it."
Berserker growled, raising his large slap-blade. He brought it down swiftly, only for a sword to appear from the side and stop the strike from reaching Gilgamesh, who was looking smugly at Berserker.
"Hm?" Gilgamesh then hummed as he noticed the sword from his treasury actually being pushed down and out of the portal from Berserker's strength.
Berserker's blade knocked out the sword and continued on to Gilgamesh. The blade struck, causing a crash that sent dust everywhere. Looking down, Berserker didn't see a sign of Gilgamesh being under his blade.
There was a flash of gold as several weapons burst from the smoke, heading straight at near point blank range. Berserker, however, swiftly let go of the handle of his weapon and immediately moved his entire upper body backwards, dodging the blades by a hair's width.
Jumping back to a hand stand, Berserker used his arms to jump away from another rain of weapons that destroyed the ground he was standing on.
"Hoh, so there's some intelligence in your madness?" Gilgamesh commented, coming out of smoke unharmed. "This might be worthwhile after all."
Berserker growled. Reaching down, he tore out a part of the ground and threw it at Gilgamesh. The King of Heroes sent several weapons that easily tore through the rock.
However, that proved to be a distraction as Berserker brust from the smoke in order to retrieve his weapon. Taking hold of it, Berserker swung upwards at Gilgamesh witn such strength that it blew away all the dust around.
Gilgamesh was faster, however, and immediately dodged by jumping and floating away. Looking at his opponent as he flew in the air, Berserker knelt down before jumping with enough strength that it cracked the ground.
Seeing his opponent approach with speed that didn't leave him enough room to dodge, Gilgamesh pulled out a golden shield from his treasury and used it to protect himself as Berserker swung his slap-blade at his side.
The strike was enough to send Gilgamesh towards one of the pillars and crash into it, nearly breaking it in half. As dust covered his form, Gilgamesh summoned several portals and started shooting weapons at Berserker.
Being midair, Berserker couldn't dodge, and compensated with using his weapon to deflect the projectiles. Berserker managed to stop all of them but one that buried itself in his shoulder before he managed to land on the ground.
When the dust cleared from the pillar, it revealed Gilgamesh completely unharmed. Instead, he looked almost amused at Berserker.
Berserker glared at Gilgamesh as dozens of portals appeared besides the King of Heroes. Taking out the weapon in his shoulder, Berserker merely moved his neck around and, bobbin the bones in it.
As golden weapons began raining down on him, Berserker began jumping back to avoid being struck. A trail of rubble and destruction followed him as he backed off until he reached the pillar at the end of the arena, opposite of the one Gilgamesh was on.
Instead of being cornered, Berserker jumped up high in the air and, when he was in the same level as Gilgamesh, used the pillar as foothold to shoot forward with such strength that he actually broke the pillar in half.
Gilgamesh moved away, floating in the air, as Berserker crashed through the pillar and came out the other side. Berserker crashed head first into the buildings carved into the mountainside.
Without a moment of rest, Gilgamesh began sending volleys of weapons at where Berserker landed. A shadow broke through the building and began maneuvering between them, dodging golden weapons that were faster than most can even see.
Deciding to go on the offensive, Berserker threw his slap-blade at Gilgamesh like a boomerang. A blade appeared from the side to block the weapon, causing it to recoil into the air.
That's when Berserker made a powerful jump towards Gilgamesh. Taking hold of his slap-blade midair, Berserker swung down at Gilgamesh, who used a sword in each hand to block. The strike was still strong enough to send both of them crashing back into the arena and create cracks all around it.
A portal appeared above Gilgamesh's head and, at light-like speed, a sword flew directly to Berserker's head, causing him to bend back from the strike. Several other weapons shot forward, all striking Berserker's body and sending him flying back.
Gilgamesh, however, didn't drop his guard. Just as he suspected, Berserker burst from the smoke of his crash site. The weapons on his body were seemingly pushed out and the wounds began healing in a cloud of steam.
The weapon sent to his head, however, apparently never struck as it was caught between Berserker's teeth. Spitting away the weapon, Berserker growled and charged forward, weapon in hand.
"I tire of this," Gilgamesh dropped his weapons and they vanished in a golden glow.
As soon as Berserker got closer, several portals appeared around them. However, unlike before, what came out was not weapons, but golden chains that stabbed through Berserker's body and wrapped around him, completely restraining his movement.
Berserker growled and attempted to move, unable to do so despite how much he pulled on the restraints.
"The match is over!" Zack suddenly called out, dropping down the shield and veil protecting the spectators.
"What!?" Illya, obviously, wasn't pleased. "It's not done! Berserker can still break free! Just give him a second!"
While Illya threw a tantrum, most the other spectators were watching the results of the battle with nervous sweat. The fight didn't last long, but it was still as destructive as some the mightiest battles they saw.
"Hate to break it to you, but there's no way for Berserker to actually break those chains. Especially since they're extremely restrictive for anything Divine, and if you haven't noticed, Berserker has Divine Blood," Zack replied nonchalantly.
"Zack," Artoria turned to him with a somber look. "This fight... Berserker was never meant to win, was he?"
Zack shook his head. "No, I honestly just wanted humour Gilgamesh. I knew Berserker would put up a good fight, but I had no expectations for him to win."
"Aha! So you rigged the fight! I knew it!" Illya accused, pointing her finger at Zack.
Zack sighed and shook his head. "Let me make myself clear, all Servants in this Holy Grail War can gang up on Gilgamesh, and you would all still lose if he actually went all out," Zack's gaze turned firm. "I know the capabilities of every Servant in this Holy Grail War. If Berserker had been Summoned as a Saber or Archer, he would have stood a chance, but just a CHANCE. Gilgamesh is the King of All Heroes, and that title is not without merit. Only other 'All Kings', like the King of All Mage-craft, or the King of All Assassins, can say they're his equals."
"Normally, I'd have your head presented to all of Uruk for daring to say there are those who are my equals, Tree," Gilgamesh stated, walking up to them with his hands in his pockets. "However, I suppose that foolish Mage and that old man aren't unworthy of praise."
"Wait! Does that mean I get the Grail!" Rin exclaimed.
"Do not get ahead of yourself, girl," Gilgamesh, however, dashed whatever hopes she was having. "I had only said that I would humour one fight. I have no reason to remain here or fulfill your wish."
"Alright, everyone, go back upstairs for now," Zack suddenly clapped his hands, drawing their attention. "Gil, let Berserker go so he can leave with everyone else. Everyone else, wait upstairs for a while. I have some personal business with Gilgamesh and am gonna need to bring up the next battle arena," his look turned to a glare. "No, this is not up for debate, before any of you say anything, and you are not permitted to come down until I say so."
They all nodded, wondering about the change in attitude. After Berserker was dropped from the chains, they all began leaving before the gates closed. The gates were immediately covered with Runes.
"Hmph, so the fun finally begins? Gilgamesh was no longer wearing his casual clothes. With flash of light, he was covered in a golden armor.
"Yeah, one sec, let me put this-" Zack motioned to his puppet body "-somewhere safe."
Immediately, Zack went to the same location they used to watch the match from. Just as he raised another wall completely covered in Runes, the puppet body dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.
Gilgamesh's smile widened as he turned around and saw the other end of the arena change. Trees began appearing, a blue sky filled with light but no sun showed up, and in the distance, an ocean can be seen.
In the middle of it all was Zack, in his true body, with the mark of the Planet Earth floating behind his back.
"Man, I can't tell you how good it feels to be out of that thing," Zack said, rolling his shoulders around, causing the wood to creak.
"It seems as if you have reached interesting heights, Tree," Gilgamesh began floating in the air, raising himself high in the air.
"You could say that," Zack said back.
Gilgamesh didn't say anymore, instead, he took out a large, golden key from his treasury. Placing the key forward, he twisted it and cased a circuit of energy to cover the entire sky.
The circuit then all gathered and compressed into a single orb of energy, looking similar to a miniature sun, in front of Gilgamesh. The orb began slowly moving down, revealing Gilgamesh's greatest treasure.
The sword of Rapture, Ea.
Taking hold of his weapon, Gilgamesh raised it into the air, causing crimson energy to swirl and spread around. Red lightning cracked through air as the King of Heroes held the Star of Genesis.
"Let us see if you're heights are a mere facade, Zack!" Gilgamesh cried out.
"Bring it!" Zack's body turned crimson.
The world around Zack's body immediately began breaking apart, as if it was a class painting. Similarly to the King of Heroes, red lightning cracked around him.
Type Earth charged forward as the King of Heroes swung down his sword.
Two, massive, red, cracks in the reality clashed together, not unlike two black holes colliding. As the contact was made, the world inverted on itself and then... whiteness.
Nothing but pure whiteness. No sound, no sight, nothing but pure white could only be perceived.
When the whiteness began to fade, it revealed the area to be no more. What was left was the ground from Zack's reality marble, which Gilgamesh was standing on.
Gilgamesh's body was completely covered in wounds, his armor completely destroyed. His right arm, which he used to swing Ea, and his right shoulder were entirely gone.
Gilgamesh's breathing was harsh. He bent forward, nearly falling down... only to stop and slowly pull himself back to standing straight.
The King of Uruk will never allow his knees to touch the floor for any reason.
"Hehe...," Wind began collecting in the area, reforming Zack in his wind element. "HeheHAHAHAHA! YOU DID IT! YOU ACTUALLY DID IT, YOU GOLDEN FREAK!" Zack cheered, raising his hands. "You actually managed to destroy my body! No one has managed to do that since my fight with the Moon's Mirror! Oh, the King of Heroes is definitely the only title worthy to be yours, Gil!"
"But of course," Gilgamesh, despite his status, gave his usual superior smile. "Who do you think you're speaking too."
"... It was really great to see you again, Gil," Zack said as Gilgamesh's body began turning to golden particles. "Bring Enkidu with you if you show up again, okay?"
"Hmph, I have no control over that one," Gilgamesh huffed. "And I am no messenger. If you wish for him to visit, ask him yourself, Tree."
With that, Gilgamesh's body completely vanished into golden sparks.